章 15: 15.- MASSACRE
Just like his father, Naoya attacked Megumi the moment Furudate gave the signal.
Using the [Projection Technique], Naoya began moving in circles around Megumi, trying to intimidate him while gradually increasing his speed through the cumulative property of his technique.
Meanwhile, Megumi focused on enhancing his Cursed Energy Reinforcement. He had noticed he relied too much on Nue's electrical energy in combat, so he decided to correct this, taking advantage of the pressure Naoya was exerting.
Slowly but surely, Megumi managed to distribute cursed energy throughout his body more efficiently. The proof of his progress was evident: he began to perceive Naoya's movements with increasing clarity, to the point of seeing each frame of his steps. Without realizing it, Megumi had achieved a level of cursed energy reinforcement comparable to beings like Sukuna.
Of course, if Megumi had been born with cursed energy, reaching this level of sensitivity would have been nearly impossible. But his situation was unique—he had reincarnated, and in his original world, cursed energy didn't exist, making his sensitivity to it immense.
When Megumi felt satisfied with his progress, he charged at Naoya with overwhelming speed.
BOOM!
The instant Megumi advanced, a sonic boom echoed across the battlefield, leaving the spectators stunned.
POW!
The impact of Megumi's punch against Naoya's abdomen shook the air.
"W-What?" stammered Naoya, dropping to his knees as he clutched his stomach in obvious pain.
But Megumi didn't give him a chance to recover. With lethal precision, he extended shadow blades from his arms and severed both of Naoya's hands.
The [Projection Technique] required the user to touch the object to freeze it with their hands, so depriving Naoya of them left him without his primary offensive resource.
"Aaaaaargh!"
Naoya Zenin's agonizing scream echoed across the battlefield. The pain hit him full force as the adrenaline wore off.
Under normal circumstances, the human brain releases hormones that mitigate pain during emergencies. However, a sorcerer's brain works differently: it secretes these hormones faster than an average human's, but it also consumes them at the same rate. Additionally, cursed energy reinforcement accelerates this process even further.
This is why, whenever a sorcerer is injured in combat, they experience unimaginable pain. Only those with extraordinary mental fortitude can continue fighting under such conditions. It's no wonder people say that the existence of sorcerers is cursed.
Without giving Naoya a moment's respite, Megumi acted with calculated cruelty. When Naoya opened his mouth to scream, Megumi seized the opportunity, grabbed his tongue, and ripped it out at the root.
He did this fully aware of Naoya's increasingly fragile mental state. He didn't want him to surrender; he intended to kill him on that battlefield. After all, Naoya had caused immense suffering to many people Megumi cared about. His despicable behavior had made him someone who, in Megumi's judgment, deserved nothing but death.
The bloody scene left much of the audience in shock. The leader of the Kamo Clan wore a grim expression, as if resigned. Jinichi and Ougi maintained emotionless, almost robotic faces. The only one who seemed to enjoy the spectacle was Satoru Gojo. In fact, was he… smiling?
The battle—or rather, the torture—continued. Megumi made a hand gesture different from the ten standard positions used to summon Shikigami.
[Merged Beast: Agito]
From Megumi's shadow emerged the combined beast, Agito, and its first action upon being summoned was to grab Naoya Zenin by the arms and position him in front of Megumi, like a human piñata.
This fight would serve as a lesson for all those old men who believed themselves above everyone else just because they sat in dusty chairs of authority. This fight would set a precedent: "Don't mess with Megumi Zenin."
Gojo had achieved a similar effect by killing everyone who had tried to assassinate him since he was a child. But if Megumi could spare himself future trouble while eliminating a piece of societal trash, who was he to reject such an opportunity?
Hanging from Agito's arms, Naoya looked like a human punching bag ready for use.
Looking at Naoya, whose mind was now a storm of rage, helplessness, and fear, Megumi spoke.
"You've insulted countless people in your life. You've used your title to get away with countless atrocities. Now you'll feel a small fraction of the pain you've inflicted on others. Honestly… I hope you don't enjoy it."
Megumi was telling the truth; he had never liked the character of Naoya Zenin. Even though he himself had been an arrogant jerk in the past, it had been more in the style of a playboy and spendthrift—he liked to think of himself as a kind of pre-arc reactor Tony Stark.
Naoya, on the other hand, was the type of millionaire who believed that having high status gave him the right to do whatever he wanted to weaker people. And so, he didn't hesitate to abuse maids, torment untalented children, and even, on occasion, beat them to death. But everything was fine because, after all, he was Naoya Zenin, right?
CRACK, in a blink, Megumi's punch shattered all of Naoya's ribs.
"Hmmmmm!!!" Despite wanting to scream with all his might, Naoya could only emit a pitiful groan since he no longer had a tongue.
With blood pouring from his severed limbs, his torso so mangled that his broken ribs were visible through it, Naoya's only hope was that this would soon be over. He was too damaged; he would die in just a few seconds.
But unfortunately, Megumi wouldn't let him die so easily. When life began to fade from Naoya's eyes, he seemed to see a light. Intuiting it was his time to move on to the afterlife, Naoya tried with all his might to reach that light.
But that light wasn't the afterlife; it wasn't divine…
That light was [Reversed Cursed Technique].
In an instant, the wounds on Naoya's body healed, except for his hands.
And his torment continued.
"Crack."
"Hmmmmm!!!"
"Crack."
"Hmmmmm!!!"
"BLACK..."
"FLASH!!!!!!!!!!"
"CRACK."
"HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMFFFFFFFFFFF!!!"
This cycle repeated itself over and over for a long time. It was only when Megumi realized he had used up a full day's worth of cursed energy that he finally stopped and spoke to Naoya.
"Hey, Naoya... can you hear me?" Megumi asked.
Hearing him, Naoya weakly nodded; it was clear he had seen better days.
Seeing him nod, Megumi said, "Naoya, I'll heal your tongue, and if you do what I ask, the suffering will end. But I want to warn you about something..." Megumi's icy gaze fixed on Naoya with piercing intensity.
"If you try to surrender... I'll rip your tongue out again, and your suffering will continue for many more hours," Megumi said coldly, his frozen stare locked onto Naoya. "Do you understand?"
Exhausted and terrified, Naoya weakly nodded.
"Very well."
In an instant, Naoya's tongue was restored thanks to Megumi's technique. Immediately after, the young Zenin commanded:
"Confess your sins, Naoya. Tell me everything bad you've done in your life and repent. Only then will your suffering end."
Megumi's voice was calm, almost soothing, but carried a firmness that brooked no argument.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!" Naoya exclaimed, visibly confused and still defiant.
Megumi tilted his head slightly, as though expecting this response.
"Oh, really? Then tell me... what happened to Kaori Zenin?"
The name thundered through the arena. Some members of the Zenin Clan visibly tensed upon hearing it.
"Oh, that bitch..." Naoya responded with a brazen smirk. "I had some fun with her before I killed her."
Megumi remained impassive as Naoya continued, convinced that his confession would earn him freedom.
"So what? I've done the same to plenty of other maids. A woman who can't properly serve a man deserves to be eliminated, right?"
Megumi nodded slightly, as if agreeing.
"Very well. Now tell me... what happened to Tokito Zenin?"
"Tokito?" Naoya chuckled darkly. "That trash! I screwed his mother in front of him and then killed him. That bitch gave birth to a useless kid with no cursed technique—it's the least they deserved."
With each confession, Naoya seemed to relax, as though the weight of his actions was lifting. He thought Megumi was acknowledging his words and that the ordeal would soon end.
Foolish delusion.
Time passed, and Naoya answered Megumi's questions one after another, detailing all his crimes. At the end, in a tone almost relieved, he said:
"Thank you for your cooperation, Naoya," Megumi said with an icy smile.
"You're wel—"
SLASH!
Before Naoya could finish his sentence, Megumi ripped out his tongue once again and resumed his torture.
"Crack."
"Hmmmmm!!!"
"Crack."
"Hmmmmm!!!"
The cycle repeated over and over, until Naoya's mind was on the verge of complete collapse. Then, Megumi restored his tongue one final time.
"P-please, stop..."
Before he could finish his plea, Megumi decapitated him with a swift and precise strike. Naoya's head fell to the ground with a dull thud, his face frozen in a mask of despair.
Calmly, Megumi turned to the referee.
"Referee... I believe I'm the winner, am I not?"
"Y-yes! Megumi Zenin is the victor of this match," Furudate declared, still in shock.
"Could I borrow the microphone for a moment, please?" Megumi asked politely.
"S-sure..." Furudate stammered, handing him the microphone before quickly leaving the arena.
Megumi turned on the microphone and tapped its surface lightly to test it. Then, he lifted Naoya's corpse and displayed it to the audience.
"Before I leave, I have something to say," he declared firmly. "This happened to this man because of the sins he committed in the past."
The silence in the stands was absolute.
"Anyone who commits similar acts will receive the same treatment. Let this be a warning... I WILL NOT TOLERATE NONSENSE!"
Megumi's cursed energy surged, oppressive and suffocating, making everyone present feel a weight pressing on their chests.
"As for the clan's leadership, since I'm still a child, I will cede the position to my uncle, Ougi Zenin. I trust he will lead the clan until my time comes."
With a slight bow, Megumi took his leave.
"Thank you for witnessing this duel."
--[Arishiyama Park, After Megumi's Duel]--
Later, Megumi and Gojo were sitting in an empty park in Kyoto, owned by the Zenin Clan. Silence reigned for a moment until Megumi broke the ice.
"Hey, Gojo… did it really not bother you to see how brutally I killed Naoya?" Although Megumi was familiar with Gojo's sadistic tendencies, having seen his fights with Hanami and Jogo in the anime, he still had some doubts about Gojo's empathy for others.
Seeing a hesitant Megumi, Gojo smiled calmly, resting his face on one hand.
"Not at all! Would you believe me if I told you that one day I plan to do the same to the elders of the Jujutsu Council?"
"I believe you," Megumi replied without hesitation, recalling a panel from the manga where Gojo confirmed he had killed the higher-ups.
"Perfect! Then don't judge me when I do it, okay? Deal?" Gojo extended his fist toward Megumi.
"Deal," Megumi replied, bumping his fist against Satoru's.
Thus ended the last rebellion of the Zenin Clan before falling under Megumi's leadership. Only time would tell if this display had truly been the right decision.
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